The Death Chronicles: Where Angels Fear to Tread
by RoseBlackthorn
Summary: Soul Eater is one of my favorite anime/manga. In this series I will be adding more missions, side stories, and romance. It is my mission to stay true to the personalities of the Soul Eater characters. Join everyone as they take the next step in their training... college. Maka's cousin has returned to the main branch and some reaper notices. Pairings listed inside.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own characters, plots, or settings associated with Soul Eater.

* * *

" Welcome to Death Weapon Meister Academy. More commonly known as the DWMA. It stands as a defense against the forces of evil, which would plunge the world into chaos and drag humanity into the very depths of fear and madness. The demons known as Kishin, and their eternal hunger for destruction. To ensure that the Kishin never regain their hold on this world, this Academy was founded by the Grim Reaper, Death himself. So basically we're an organization that serves to protect and preserve peace! I guess it's not exactly a typical school. Oh well, that isn't important! For now, lets roll up our sleeves and get to work! "

—Lord Death, Episodes 1-3

* * *

"It's good to have you back, Maka and I missed you," Spirt said over his shoulder to the girl following him. "I've missed you as well. B-but seriously uncle, can you stop looking so creepy," the redheaded girl sighed and adjusted her backpack as the grown man in front of her practically floated down the stairs as he twirled for glee.

My name is Mai Albarn. I have red hair like my dad and brown eyes like my mother. If you are wondering why my uncle Spirit is freaking out so much, it's because I've finally returned to the main school and the town where I grew up. My dad, Spirit's brother, and my mom lived up North and taught at the branch school for the DWMA. I'm a meister, just like my dad, or I would be if I had a partner. Don't get me wrong, I can adapt to almost anyone and use them, but there wasn't a solid match for my soul wavelength.

Right now, my parents are on a mission. I think. They were supposed to go to Scotland for a routine drill. It was supposed to take them three weeks, but that was three years ago. Normally, when operatives go missing, Lord Death would send out a search party until they were found. He didn't this time. He didn't have to. A day before my parents were due back a package came in the mail addressed to Lord Death. Inside the box were two left hands from two different bodies. Each ring finger had a wedding band.

Hmm, enough of that. I am happy that I get to live with my cousin Maka. We grew up together, and are really close. I wish she would have been my sister instead. When things got rough with Spirit and his wife, my parents ended up taking a job offer and moving us away. I stayed until I graduated high school. Now I'm 19, and everyone knows what that means. College.

"Well, here we are!" Spirit yells happily as he knocks on an apartment door. The look of bliss on his face didn't falter, even when we heard a –BONK- coming from inside. Maka opened the door, pan in hand. She smiled as her emerald eyes met my chocolate ones and cried, "MAI! I've just about got dinner ready, I would have sooner if Soul would have just backed off and waited." She threw a glare at a white haired boy nursing his head. I couldn't help but noticed that she ignored her father. She almost shut the door on him, but he managed to sneak inside.

After greetings and sitting down for a nice meal of pan seared salmon and roasted veggies, Spirit spoke up. "The rest of your bags should be here tomorrow. Then class starts in exactly one week from today," uncle explained as he handed me my class schedule. "Hey let me see that," Soul says as he snatches it before I can get my hands on it. Maka, instead of scolding him on his manners glances at the paper to see as well. "Hmm, we're all in the same class," he mumbles as he passes it to Maka. "Wow, yeah. But what else to do expect from MY cousin," She teases happily.

"It is pretty amazing," Spirit brags for me, "she tested quite high. I'm so proud of my little niece. I'm sure your parents would have been proud too." "Thanks," I say and move the conversation along to the apartment. There are four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the common area/kitchen. It was nice and roomy. Maka and I will be sharing one bathroom, and Soul will have one to himself. That is, unless I find a weapon.

* * *

Ok, just a few notes:

Mai: She has…. Anger issues. Things will get severe later on. She wears a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black tie. She wears the same skirt that Maka does, and black combat boots.

I'm fixing things up a bit where they are all a bit older. I'm doing that in order to bring in more mature elements into the story. This includes violence, psychological themes, and romance. The rank is two stars for all in the series, and Soul is a Death Scythe. High school and college are in the same building, since those with the power to fight the evil aren't that many in number. The perks of being in college are no curfews and better apartments. The allowance is also upped from two hundred to three hundred.

I fell in love with this series and I want to bring it to life for as long as I can. Its style is amazing.

Some parings will be MakaxSoul, KidxOC, Black*StarxTusbaki.


	2. Chapter 2

I hope it's a cool morning. That's how cool days always start out. And a cool guy like me deserves the coolest morning possible.

-Soul Eater Evans

* * *

"What are you looking at Soul?" Maka asks Soul, who is sitting at the kitchen table on his laptop while Maka makes breakfast of omelets. "Oh, just looking up stuff on that new singer, Ava Lynn," he replies nonchalantly. "Starlet caught at beach in bikini…." Maka reads over his shoulder. "Sigh, go see if Mai needs help." The white haired boy sheepishly closes his laptop and gets up.

"Hey, do you need any help unpacking?" Soul asks. I look up from the box of clothes that I'm sorting through. The smell of breakfast saturates the air in my room. Maka sure does like to cook. "I'm actually almost done, I didn't really have much to begin with, thanks though," I smile at him. The room was already furnished with a bed, desk and dresser, so I didn't really bring much.

"That's cool looking, did you paint that?" Soul gestures towards an ink painting of a willow tree. "Yeah, I did, took forever to get it right. I went through at least three canvases. Its twin is right over here," I show him another willow tree painting that looks almost identical, except for the fact that it's flipped. This way, when I hang them on either side of my bed, both sides are perfectly even. The color scheme of my room is black, green, gray, and brown.

"Meeeeooooww, sure smells good in here!"

Wondering who that could be, I poked my head out of my door frame. I see a purple haired lady dressed like a witch. That had to be Blair, fits the description I heard perfectly. Maka didn't want Blair around her dad during our dinner, so she sent her off for the night to stay with Tsubaki.

"Sigh… I was enjoying the quiet," Soul half-heartedly sulked.

As we all sat down to eat, Blair turns to me. She looks me up and down, evaluating and calculating everything she sees. "You look a lot like Maka, except the coloring. Very pretty," She purrs, "Maka must be upset that you're at least a high B cup, right?"

Brow raised, I laugh. "Nice to meet you too, Blair." It was pretty obvious that Blair was just joking around. I've been told about how personal she gets.

Maka looks a bit peeved, but tries to pay the comment no mind. "Today we are going to go to a café with some of the others. Do you want to go meet our friends with us, Mai?" "Yeah, that sounds fun; I'm pretty much done packing." I really wanted to look around town and see what all has changed. Guess I'll play my online game later. I'm pretty into the MMO called LimitedMidnight. My character is an archer name Faol. That's my screen name for everything.

"Who's all going'?" Soul asks, adjusting his headband. "It will be Tsubaki, Liz, and Kid. I figured we'd save Black*Star for way later, and Patty isn't feeling well," Maka explains. I've heard a few things about the loud Black*Star, and I'm secretly a little glad that he won't be there.

I help Soul clean the dishes and then go get ready to leave. I put on some black and green sandals, Bermuda shorts, and a gray tank top. Standing in front of the mirror, I don my usual lightly tinted lip gloss. I don't really wear a lot of makeup, and the most I do with my hair is part it down the middle. It has the same thinness and texture as Maka's hair.

As we are walking down the street, towards the center of town, Maka and I talk about one of our favorite artists, Ava Lynn. "I really like her positive messages," Maka says, "Soul likes her too. Undoubtedly for dubious reasons," she teases his way. "Hey, that's not true, she's actually a really good pianist, and it doesn't take a genius to appreciate someone who's talented," He says defending himself. "I didn't know wearing a bikini counted as a talent," I grin knowingly.

As we arrive at a quaint little café, I see who must be the three we are here to meet at a table outside. "Hey Maka! Soul! Good to see you guys!" The blonde who must be Liz waves. "Hey! Guys this is my cousin Mai, Mai this is Liz, Tsubaki, and Kid."

I waved and smiled then moved to sit down between Maka and Liz. "She'll be in our class," Soul says to the group. Kid slightly smiles and opens to say something, but a waitress interrupts to take our orders. I get a black tea latte. "What were you going to say, Kid?" Liz questioned after our drinks arrived. "I was merely going to compliment Mai on her hair. Parting it down the middle gives it perfect symmetry."

"So Mai, are you looking forward to class?" Tsubaki politely asks. "Yeah, I am. I still don't have a weapon, but I've been doing alright so far." "Don't worry, there are plenty of people to pick through here," Liz says, "I'd recommend some of the cuter boys, hahaha!" We all laugh at her comment and chat about the upcoming school year.

"Mai has always been really athletic, I saw some videos of fights from her high school, and even with a not perfectly matched weapon, she did pretty well," Maka explained. "Oh, so you are the Mai from the far North branch. I've seen some footage of you in my father's office," Kid says knowingly, "I'll just warn you a bit, Black*Star will probably ask you to duel him. Right now you won't be able to win, but try to be careful. He can be reckless at times." "Please forgive him though," Tsubaki begs, "he does this to everyone when he meets them for the first time." "Thanks for the warning, and don't worry Tsubaki, I don't take offense."

While the inner voice in your head is a more than a little pissed at Kid being able to tell you so bluntly that you are not strong enough to defeat someone, you realize that most Miesters aren't strong enough to win without a well matched weapon and it was actually kind of him to warn you.

After hanging out at the café, Maka decided to take me on a tour of the town. Soul decided that he was going to go off to see Black*Star to get a game. As we were saying our goodbyes, Liz pulls out her cellphone. "We should exchange numbers, Mai." "I think that's a good idea as well," Tsubaki smiled. "I agree," Kid calmly stated as he turned to me.

I happily walked off after collecting their phone numbers. It's pretty cool that I'm going to a new school and I already have friends. I was worried about being awkward. "And this is the park," Maka pulls me along excitedly. It's a lot bigger than I remember. "This is where that concert is going to be, right?" I ask. All the girls decided to meet up later on in the week for the Ava Lynn concert that was going to be held in town. "Yeah, it is! Don't worry though, we get really good VIP seats for being in the top student class."

"Think you'll tell Soul you have a crush on him at the concert? You could end up on a Kiss-Cam," I tease. "Oh stop it, as soon as you have a crush on someone, I'll tease you right back," She said sticking her tongue out at me. "Well, if all the guys here are as cute as Kid, maybe this ice queen will melt," I say dramatically. "You have way too bad of a temper to be an ice queen, Mai," Maka playfully insults me. The truth of that defeats me.

As we walk through the park, my eye catches movement at the edge of my vision. I turn quickly to see a black…. Fox? Or something? That doesn't make sense. It dashes under the brush and I shake it off and walk on.

* * *

Notes:

I decided to update early. I have a story board of stuff written anyway and just got in the mood.

I made up the artist. She'll become somewhat involved in the plot.

Kiss-Cams are usually for sporting events, but in this, there's one song the artist does that involves it. Don't worry though, it won't be used at the concert because *spoilers :P*

Imak1299: I do want to have pairings for Liz, Patty and Crona. I have the one for Liz figured out, but I'm debating on Patty and Crona.

I made up the MMO for a plot that comes up later in the story.


	3. Chapter 3

"You guys are a team, you have to work together if you want to do anything! One person can't make a decision without the other, you decide together and you fight together!"

-Tsubaki Nakatsukas

* * *

Later that night, I logged onto my game. I saw that Freya, an online friend, was on. _Wow, you have been on a lot lately, lol. _I type into the chat box. Freya is a warrior, we met one day when she took on a tough monster in game, and I saved her with support from my arrows. That was almost a year ago. We've played a lot together since then, since our characters worked well together. _Yeah, well I am so bored just sitting around the house! It's crazy _ I wish there was a vaccine against getting sick ever!_ _I'm just glad that I'm feeling a lot better. _She types back to me. We decide to do a dungeon run before heading to bed.

It's the day of the concert. Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty came over to the apartment to get ready with Maka and me. Patty finally felt better and was bouncing all over the place with excitement. "I'm so excited! Here, Mai, let me do your makeup," Liz says with a smirk as she grabs some eye shadow, liner, and lipstick. She gives me smokey eyes, which works for the evening concert, and a light pink lip. We all decided to incorporate Ava Lynn's matching hearts on the corner of our eyes with some black face paint and pretty similar looks. We're all wearing band shirts and jeans.

"Here, Tsubaki, let me fix your hair," I decided to give her a French braid. She seemed to like it a lot, but I could tell that she was a little shy about dressing up. "I think that Ava is so cute and petite, it's hard to believe that she's 22," Tsubaki says as I finish securing some loose ends with bobby pins.

"Sometimes I wish I had brighter blonde hair and violet eyes like Ava Lynn. Soul, are you and the guys going to the concert too?" Liz asks over her shoulder to the white haired boy watching tv. "Nope, can't say that we are," he answers, "We are going to watch it over at Ox's place on tv, crowds are so uncool." "I can understand. That must be why Crona decided to go with you guys, crowds freak him out."

Lights flashing over a crowd of people, fog machines, and the excitement that was only amplified person to person, the atmosphere were perfect for a night of fun. We were right up front, as close to the stage as we could get, about ten feet. The crowd behind us was pressing so hard that I was constantly getting bumped into. The announcer came out, and everyone cheered. I reached in my back pocket for some gum, but an accidental elbow to my side forced me to drop it and my student ID that was also in my back pocket.

Soon, it was lost under feet. I was about to tug on Maka's sleeve to tell her what had happened, when someone grabbed my wrist. I turned and was face to face with a blonde boy about my age. He handed me my lost ID and said, "It gets rough on the frontlines, be careful." He said it just barely loud enough for me to hear. His violet eyes sparkled as he laughs lightheartedly. I just nodded and mouthed thanks with a smile.

The first two songs were amazing, as usual. Liz and Patty sang along as loud as they could, while Tsubaki and Maka just watched and cheered on in excited awe. The general themes of the songs were about being clever and using your skills to better the world. Love was a predominant theme, especially in the song Love is Life. As that song was starting, I noticed something kind of… off. I stood ridged as I assessed the situation and noticed odd looking plastic boxes under the stage, were they supposed to be there? I guess maybe they have some sort of firework effects. Wait... they wouldn't stick one under her piano if that were the case. Did they ever even do those kinds of effects? Am I just being paranoid? I looked to my right, and saw someone who looked as intent as me, that boy from before. It was easy to notice him, stoic compared to the restless crowd.

That's when I remembered, he said it gets rough on the frontline, which means he's been to these concerts before. I pull and push myself over to him and yell, "Something's wrong isn't it?" He looked at me and nodded. Suddenly, flames burst from under the stage, causing a wave of intense heat to momentarily stun me. The crowd grew panicked and ran back. My friends looked ready to act and tried to direct people away. It was chaos.

-Boy's point of view-

"Meister or weapon?" I yelled at the red headed girl. I remembered that the student ID that she dropped was for the DWMA. "Meister," She yelled back at me. "Perfect, use me, ok? We have to save Ava!" She nodded and I jumped into action. My weapon form was a staff. I hope she could use me and can go along with this plan, there's no time to explain.

-Mai's point of view-

A staff, perfect, I thought to myself. I used him to pole-vault over the flames to reach Ava, who was stunned in the middle of the stage. I still couldn't quite reach her, as fire licked the wood in all directions, trapping her. I quickly extended my staff to tear sandbags on the stage open, which suppressed the flames long enough for her to run over to me before the light stands fell on her previous location. I hoisted her onto my back and pushed my spirit energy into my limbs in order to gain strength. I pole-vaulted right back out of danger just as more explosions went off; I twisted to try to take the brunt of the pain. I felt the air get knocked out of me as I hit the ground hard. The crowd was already gone for the most part, and I could hear sirens from fire trucks in the distance. I looked and saw my friends; they were making their way over to me.

I stood up and tried to steady myself a bit. I saw the boy and Ava, she was freaking out and crying while practically choking him. After making sure that they were fine, I turned my attention to myself. My face felt like it was spotted in soot. My eyes burned a little from being exposed to the intense heat, and it felt like there was something in my eye. I was alright otherwise, nothing major was wrong with me, and thank goodness my hair didn't catch on fire. That smells awful.

"Thanks for figuring that out so quickly and helping me save my big sister," the boy said to me as he shook my hand, "I'm Terrance." "I'm Mai." His sister was still crying about her and her brother almost getting hurt. She hugged me and then was ushered away to explain the accident to a zombie looking man. "She'll thank you when she snaps out of it," he laughed, looking very relieved. "Wow, she's your big sister," I say kind of shocked. "That was fucking crazy!" Liz exclaims at the whole situation when she realizes who Terrance is and what exactly happened.

"It doesn't look like it was an accident, I will want to discuss this situation with you further," a voice from behind me said, directed towards Terrance. Terrance nodded and that's when I turned to see Kid. He walked up to me and examined me intently. I knew it was just to see if I was ok, but the look was so intense that it made me uncomfortable. He handed me a handkerchief from his pocket and walked away with a smirk. He had a skateboard with him that vanished in a bit of smoke as he walked towards the scene to examine it as part of his shinigami duties. "Sid, did you see that figure?" Kid asked the zombie man as they walked further away. "He sure got here fast," Patty said surprised, "Ox's place is faaaaaar away." Patty and Liz ran up to join their Miester after making sure I was ok.

-At Ox's house before the explosion-

The guys were sitting around drinking beer and watching the concert live on tv. Some were playing poker as well. The crowd cam was passing by the group of girls in the front row "Aww, Maka's cousin is kinda hot," Kirikou, one of Ox's friends says.

"Wait! Go back a bit and freeze on her face!" Kid instructed to Ox. "Ha, I guess you agree with him," Black*Star teased. "Look, something has her worried, put it back on live!" Soul calls over. "I'm so glad I got the full setup," Ox says as he switches modes with the remote. In no time at all they hear a loud boom, and see a demonic looking figure in the smoke towards the back. "Did she just jump into the fire!" Kid yelled as he rushed for the door.

"What the hell was that in the smoke?" Black*Star asked shocked. He ran to the door side by side with Crona; not too long after Kid. The entire rest of the group of boys rushes to the door after him. "We're too far away; we won't make it in time!" Soul yells frustrated as he hops on his bike. He was worried about his friends, but especially about Maka. Kid called out Beelzebub and zoomed off as fast as he could, easily surpassing the speed of Soul on his bike and the others on foot.

-Back at my apartment-

I step out of the bathroom in shorts and a tank top. I just had to take a shower when we got back.

"That was crazy!" Maka said again as she made tea for me and Soul, "There wasn't anything we could do, if you hadn't have met that Terrance guy, Ava would have died. How did you think to do all that?" "Because I'm clever, at least sometimes," I say as light heartedly as possible. "You guys probably didn't see it, but there was this weird demon looking thing in the smoke behind the stage," Soul says seriously, "We were worried that there would be a fight." "Yeah, we didn't see it," Maka said surprised. She spilled a little of the tea she was pouring, but quickly cleaned it up. I laugh at the memory of what had happened when some of the other guys got there. Soul had hugged her tightly as soon as he found her, and she's been a little clumsy since then.

* * *

Notes:

I'm pretty happy with this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Bring it on! I may be weaker than you, but I'll take whatever you throw at me!

-Maka Albarn

* * *

I spend a good deal of my downtime chatting and doing dungeon runs with Freya. Sometimes, it's nice to talk to her about things I couldn't tell others. I mean, it's not like I'll ever meet her. I never play more than two hours in a day, but we still managed to find some really awesome new items for our characters. _I think we'll be able to run one of the hardest dungeons now! _Her excitement was understood even with the limited medium of the written word. _I think we'll be ready for the big end of year event that everyone's been talking about! _I write back to reassure her of my enthusiasm. No one really knows what the end of the year event will be, but there's a female NPC in one of the towns that tells us something is coming and to be prepared.

Maka burst into my room after I had logged off, and explained that since it was Friday, we should do something fun. "I want to go hang out around town, and then Saturday night let's invite the girls over for a sleepover," She thoughtfully added, "You didn't really come here with much, so Sunday we could all go shopping when we wake up." "Hmmm, I hadn't really thought about it. That sounds like fun though, so I'm all for it." "Great! Want to leave in ten minutes and go grab lunch?" She ran off to get ready as soon as I said yes.

We had a nice day walking around town. We saw a movie and she showed me all of her favorite places to shop so that we could game plan for Sunday. On our way to a bookstore we spot a figure that I recognized from our brief meeting. It was Crona and it looked like he was on his way to the same bookstore. "Hi Crona!" Maka smiled as she greeted him. In turn, he looked nervous as he grabbed his arm and mumbled, "H-hello." "Good to see you again," I say politely. "Y-you too," he said looking at the ground. I'm pretty sure I heard him say something about not knowing how to handle situations like this, so I invited him to go into the bookstore with us. He turned a little pale and ran off saying that he was sorry and would see us in school.

We spent the rest of the time before the sleepover baking and freshening up the apartment. It was kind of nice that Blair was off doing Blair things and wouldn't be around to try to keep playing with my hair like a normal cat. I don't know why she likes it. Soul begrudgingly cleaned his bathroom in case someone needed to use it. "I don't want to hang around and be roped into seeing a chick flick, those are so uncool, so I'm going to chill with Black*Star at Ox's place. We are starting over on that poker game from last time," He explained to us as he finished wiping down everything. He left about ten minutes before everyone started showing up.

As Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty arrived, it became clear that there would be no chick flicks. We ate junk food and fooled around watching scary movies and mystery movies. The next morning we all went out shopping for new clothes and various school supplies. It was more fun than I thought I could have.

-First day of school

The first day of school came faster than I expected. Isn't that always how it is? I walk with Maka, who normally rides to school with Soul, and use her soul perception to avoid Black*Star. She didn't want me to have the same first day of school that Kid had with that duel. We walk into class and sit in the front row. Maka is in between me and Soul, with an empty seat next to me.

At least, the seat was empty. I look up and see a familiar set of violet eyes. "Well, we meet again," Terrance laughs, "I'm a new kid in Death City, and to think I already have some friends." Liz and Patty walked into the classroom and see the four of us together. They sit in the row behind us and start making conversation with Terrance. I glance at Patty and ask, "Where's Kid?" "Oh, he had to go back home real quick and check the toilet paper triangle, he'll be on time though," she smiled back at me. I remember hearing about Kid's symmetry obsession. I'm just glad he's been trying to get it under control. He walks through the door shortly and takes his place with Liz and Patty and sits directly behind me. I try to ignore the feeling that he's looking at me. I shouldn't be so paranoid, but I am very aware of his presence. Black*Star and Tsubaki stumble in a few minutes before class starts and sit in the only seats left near the back along with a very shy looking Crona.

Most of the students take notes throughout the lecture. I think Black*Star was sleeping though. He had painted eyes on his eyelids though, so I don't think the teacher noticed. Soon Professor Stein left class and that zombie man from before walked in. "Alright class, we are going to split up for a bit. Those with partners go to the South gym and those without go to the North. I wave my friends goodbye as I follow along with Terrance to the North gym.

We pair off on a rotation and spar. This gives us time to see if there is anyone we match well. Most of these people have been together since middle school. It was difficult for me to match up with them, especially since I didn't know them well. I tried my hardest, even though sometimes I got my ass kicked. At the end of the fighting I looked awful. My face and arms were scratched up and the school provided gym clothes had a few tears and rips in them. Most of us were sweating quite a bit since this exercise is not only physical but mental as well. "Last fight of the day," I think to myself. This time I'm up against some guy who is known to be a bit of a bully. I don't remember his name, and I don't think I care to, but I saw some of the damage he gave the others. The pervert always tries to tear the clothes of the girls in ways to expose things. I turn to who in the rotation I will be paired with. It's Terrance.

"Well hey there buddy," he says as he tussles my hair. He's at least 6'2, and if you ask me he kind of looks like a pole outside of his weapon form. I smirk a little and get ready to go. I face the husky build of the boy in front of me who has this creepy grin plastered on his face. The level of our fatigue is apparent. This scum only did the bare minimum to fight the guys and went all out to do gross things to the girls. I went all out every time.

The fight was intense. His weapon was a type of whip this time, so he didn't even have to run around like I had to. I was so busy blocking him from tearing the front of my shirt open that I didn't think about him pulling the whip back up. Smack! The tip tore open a bit of my cheek. It surprised me and I stumble back a bit. "Do you guys want to see panties or bra?" the jerk laughed to his two buddies. Most people on the side lines seemed disgusted at him. I was starting to get mad. I could feel in my hands that Terrance was upset as well. We fed off of the others anger and moved into action. I got in to close range as quickly as I could. He snapped the whip and it wrapped around the end of my staff. I took the free end and I whacked him across the face with it. He flinched and I was able to yank to staff from his grasp.

He moved quicker that I thought he would. He moved his arm back and tried to bring the whip down on my head. I move Terrance in front of me to take the blown. As the whip hit the wood, it did something weird. It snaked around it and reached for my shirt. Rip! The front of my shirt was torn, but just enough to reveal a little cleavage. I didn't know that the weapon he had was also a bit perverted. They seemed to feed off of each other. My face turned red from embarrassment and anger. I just…snapped.

Rage filled my head. I moved in quickly towards him and got behind him. Then I went for his neck. I had Terrance to his neck and was pulling up pretty hard. The jerk flailed around a bit, but he lost consciousness.

-Terrance's POV

I hate guys like this. I'm right on Mai's page when it comes to wanting to hurt this guy, but is she going to stop? He had already lost consciousness, I better talk her down. "Hey Mai, snap out of it, he's down. You won. Everything's alright now."

-Mai's POV

Normally, when something triggers the anger, I don't calm down very easily. There's just something about hearing the phrase "Everything's alright now" that just calmed me down. Terrance stayed calm the whole time. I wish I could have. I let go before the instructor, Sid, got to us. I think he thought I would kill the student. I think I might have tried.

After the fight it was time to shower and go off to lunch. As I step out of the girls locker room, I see Terrance waiting for me against the wall. "We seem to get along well together," he laughed. It was true, our wavelengths match and he helped to keep me calm when I normally would have lost it. "I'd like to partner up with the girl who helped save my sister," he said with a smile. "There's something I should tell you first," I say as I motion for him to follow me to the cafeteria.

I tell him the entire story of how I got into the top class.

After the search was called off for my parents, I was in denial. I got so angry. There was only one person who I could talk to, my best friend Makoto. He understood a lot about me. We lived next door to each other on the outskirts of town. He had lived with his grandmother, but she passed away a long time ago. My parents used to look after him to make sure he would be alright. We were even in the same class. He was alone, just like me. I finally reached his house and walked inside. It was normal for me to just burst into his house; he did the same thing at mine.

I stopped as I realized there were four people there. They looked like they were from the school. They were talking in the living room about the Kishin that was in the news, the one that was attacking houses along the edges of the town to target young weapons. It's not that it's a particularly strong kishin, but it's smart. That's even more dangerous.

They looked at me and one man said, "Hey there, you better get out of here, there was an accident." I ran to his room anyway and saw what was left of him. His entrails were everywhere and blood soaked the carpet, showing his last moves. The look on his face broke my heart. No one should look that terrified during their last moments. His bedroom window was smashed open and I could see a trail of blood leading off into the woods.

I was indignant in my anger. I ran after the trail of blood until it ended in the woods. It was like someone had stoked the fire burning in my gut and I just went mad. There were sharp pains in my palms. I remember waking up in the infirmary. I had tracked and killed the kishin by myself, only I don't remember how. Apparently, I was brilliant. People praised me and it felt so wrong. That's when I decided to move back to where I grew up.

After hearing my story, Terrance nodded his head and said, "Well, I calmed you down once, I can do it again. You remind me a lot of one of my younger sisters. If she were still around that is." I start to ask him about her but he hushed me and said, "Nope, no more of those types of stories to day. We have paper work to fill out and turn in, partner."

* * *

Notes:

Since this chapter is so much about Mai and Terrance, I've decided to do a double update to get back to the regular Soul Eater Characters. It'll be up before the end of tomorrow.

Does anyone get what I've been hinting at with Freya?


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm not very good at talking with girls. They make me nervous."

-Crona

* * *

"Will the following people please report to Lord Death… Maka Albarn, Soul Evans, Tsubaki Nakatsukas, Black*Star, Mai Albarn, and Terrance Lovell."

We all gathered outside Lord Death's office. It was still pretty early in the day, but that didn't stop Black*Star from being energetic. "Hey! I want to fight you Mai! Has my bigness scared you away from facing me all this time? I don't find that surprising, since I am the guy who will surpass God!"

"But Black*Star, she only just got Terrance as a weapon. It would have been unfair to face her before," Tsubaki tried to reason with him. Before Black*Star could retort, the doors to the office open and we all walked inside.

Kid's POV

I can't believe that she already got a weapon. I suppose that is fine since she will be more protected. But why did it have to be that pretty boy? Not that I care. I'm merely concerned about his reliability. Besides, he's not even symmetrical enough to match her well with that funny cowlick. Then again... with my hair I'm not symmetrical either.

"I should die! I don't deserve to live!"

"Well, crap," Liz sighs as she and Patty go to comfort him. He hadn't had a break down in three weeks.

Lord Death waited patiently for his son to snap out of it. It only took ten minutes. "Hiya! I'm going to tell you guys about what we learned about that concert fire." Everyone stood at attention, especially Terrance. "It seems that it's not just Ava Lynn concerts that are starting to be targeted. It seems that we have a serial arsonist that is attacking popular good events all around the world. We can't do anything right now until we learn some more about it. He doesn't follow a set pattern and doesn't just target concerts."

"So then there's something else you called us here for as well, right father?" I say trying to dust off my jacket. I should have been more mindful of dust from the floor.

"Correct!" Lord Death said happily. His face turned serious as he prepared his next sentence. "I'm sure you are all aware of the rise in missing children reports. Well, we've determined what has been going on."

He pulls a screen down from seemingly nowhere, and shows the students a picture of a normal looking man. He had a bald spot on his head and wore glasses, but he had no distinguishable features. Lord Death then pulled down a picture of a demonic looking clown.

"These two pictures are the same creature," Lord Death explains, much to everyone's surprise. "He is a travelling puppeteer named Largo, and has been luring children away and devouring their flesh and souls. It's quite serious, smart kishins are quite bothersome."

"Awwww, that's sad!" Patty cried out.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you guys can handle this. His next show is next week Thursday, and it's only two towns away from here," Lord Death finished his briefing and sent them on their way to continue class.

On our way down the hall, Black*Star tries to continue the conversation from before. He really wants to challenge Mai.

"It's not going to be a good match unless Mai and her partner have more time to become familiar with each other, wait until they are," I growl at the annoying boy.

Black*Star was pretty shocked by how authoritative the young reaper sounded and reluctantly agreed. "Yeah, I'll wait until you are at your best, then my best will beat you!" He grinned.

"Thanks for that," Mai said before she walked away for special staff training. I smirked and nodded as I walked to the firing range. That's strange, I feel quite a bit lighter on my feet.

Mai's POV

-Rest of school week

Now that I am in the partnered class, school is much more fun. The schedule works out to where I have homeroom with everyone and then I do meditation and endurance training with Tsubaki, study hall with Maka, survival training with Black*Star, DWMA and Kishin history with Soul, and then I eat lunch with Liz, Patty, and Crona. It's a bit disappointing, but Kid has specialized classes to accommodate his future role as a shinigami.

I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to get along with Crona as well as I get along with everyone else, but things seemed to take a turn for the better. It just took some time for him to warm up to me, but he said that since I was so like Maka that it was a bit easier. It was kind of sweet how he formally requested to be friends. It seems that when he is confused about social interactions he turns to books.

I feel awful, but I still have no clue if Crona actually is a he or a she. It seems that no one else really knows either, and that we all just kind of leave it alone.

After having classes with my friends, I have specialized training for the type of weapon I have. I learned to do a lot of defensive moves like a type of Seikūken. It is a defensive technique controlling the entire radius within my staff length, creating a "shield" around oneself that can only be broken with sufficient force. It will take more training to do it on reflex.

Later on in the week, Terrance moved into the apartment. He hooked up to his laptop to contact his older sister Ava to let her know how things were going.

"How is my most wonderful, most adorable, little brother Terrancey-poo?" She asked, eyes shining. It was obvious that she dotted on him.

"Things are well," He replied, laughing off her enthusiasm. He showed her a bit of the apartment and told her that he found a partner.

"I'm so proud of you!" She squealed, "Oh, that's right! I still haven't properly thanked everyone, especially Mai. I need to think of some way to do that…"

"Take your time, we have all been very busy with class work," he reassured her. "Hmm, well, I'm sure you've already thanked some of them properly," she said with a mischievous grin, "That Liz girl looked exactly like your type, hehehehe."

"Oh look at that, the oven's on and the whole place is burning," he said a little too calmly as he turned off communications. He quickly got up and walked to his room, face a bit pink if I saw correctly. I had been reading in the kitchen with Maka, studying for a morning exam. She looked up at me with a silly look on her face and I worked hard to stifle a laugh.

"Since Soul is out with Kid tonight, I wanted to talk to you about something," Maka said to me when she was sure Terrance was out of hearing range. "I'm all ears," I reply as I close my book.

"You see, sometimes, Soul gets these notes in his locker from girls. I get a little jealous because I don't get many notes and I don't think he sees me as someone desirable." She thoughtfully chews the end of her pencil and waits for my reply.

"Well, not a lot of girls get notes from guys, I think it's considered uncool for a guy to do that. Or maybe sometimes girls seem unobtainable or too good to want to deal with those types of things. We can't be like normal high schools since we basically act as a military force, so it's hard to say," I try my best to explain. She seems relieved by my answer when all of a sudden we hear, "Or maybe you should trade in for bigger boobs."

Blair hopped up onto the table in cat form laughing at her comment. "In all seriousness though, I want to go get pampered, can we pleeeeeeassseeeee do a spa trip this weekend?" She whines. "I can't argue with a spa trip, Maka." "Actually, I think I could use one now," she replies exasperatedly.

That weekend the three of us hit up the spa. After mud masks, wraps, massages, and some special skin and hair treatments, we walk out of the Green Lotus Spa practically glowing. "See Maka? You are pretty when you get out of the books," Blair teases as she heads off to work. She's a cabaret girl at a pretty nice place. I have no idea what she does with her money though.

"Let's go to our favorite café!" Maka practically demands, "I want to get that white blossom tea and pear soufflé that you had last time." Of course I agree to my cousins wish and we find ourselves once again at All Saints café.

On our way back home, we ran into a familiar reaper. Maka greeted him and we walked to meet him on his side of the sidewalk. "How are your studies going?" I ask. "Excellent, thank you," he replied, "I apologize for the rush, but I have an appointment I need to get to." He seemed in such a hurry as he walked off that Maka and I stand there surprised. "Must be a busy life to be him," Maka said to try to make sense of his sudden departure. "Yeah, I guess so."

Little do we know that he ran off quickly to hide the blush in his face.

"Damn it, she just had to look exquisite today. This does nothing for my composure," he growls to himself as he hurries home.

Kid wasn't aware of that someone watching the odd exchange and his reaction.

"Oh dear, it seems my cute little son is already quite grown up, I really should have had some serious talks with him a lot sooner, before he lets this get out of control. Oh~ I can't bear to talk to him about this yet, can't he wait fifty more years at least!"

* * *

Notes:

Want to know something awful? I got the puppeteer idea from the news.

Who should pose as Patty's mom and dad for the mission? I was thinking Liz and Terrance.

All ideas for improvements to existing chapters and ideas for future ones are welcome.


	6. Chapter 6

"YAAAAHHOOOO! Black Star on stage front and center YEAH! A big star is here to perform in your tiny village come on out everybody!"

-Black*Star

* * *

Operation: Evil Puppet Master

"YAY! I love puppets! Thanks "Mom" and "Dad", you guys are the best," Patty smirks. Liz and Terrance sigh as they try to stay in character. They are both dressed in nice slacks and button up shirts. Liz has her hair in a bun and they are both wearing glasses. Patty had to wrap up her breasts to keep them from popping out so much, and she was dressed in a white sun dress. The little "family" sat in the front row, waiting for the puppet show to begin.

Kid and I are in an office building nearby running surveillance. We need to keep an eye on our weapons and watch after the many children attending the show. "I have to hand it to you Liz, you make excellent disguises," I say into the walkie-talkie. Everyone is wearing wires to keep in contact with each other for this mission. "Hmm, thanks. I am pretty excellent," she answers smugly. "Or it's just that she looks too old," Kid says offhandedly. I'm pretty glad she didn't hear that. "Maka? Soul? How are you guys doing?" "We're fine, we've been snooping back stage and I think we have determined where his trailer is parked. It should be in an alley near us," a determined Maka answers back. "Look at all of this kid stuff, it's so uncool," I hear Soul complain in the background.

I can't quite figure out where Black*Star went. I know that sneaking isn't like him and it was useless to count on him until a fight. I finally spot him on the other side of the crowd, trying to arm wrestle people. I guess he's trying to win the attention of the crowd. Tsubaki is acting as an announcer, but it's clear that she is frustrated.

I turn my attention back to the stage. It looks like the show is about to start. It looks like it's going to be about Sleeping Beauty. Liz and Terrance look like they are alert, but that could easily be mistaken as stern. Patty is fitting in really well with the kids, at least until I hear her say, "A kiss to wake her up? Daddy would have to do a lot more than that to wake you up Mom." Liz got some funny looks from a few parents.

-With Maka and Soul-

"Well, this looks like his trailer," Maka says triumphantly. She uses her soul perception and doesn't sense anything. "Soul… if there are any of the missing kids here, then they are already dead."

Soul tries to open the door, but realizes it's locked. He turns his pinky into a tiny scythe and uses it to pick the lock. "Don't worry, I'll check it out. A cool guy wouldn't let his partner see something bad." After giving her a thumb up he walks inside.

The smell hit him before anything else. It was dark inside the trailer, but he could see all that he needed to. Some of the bodies were handing from the ceiling like animals would in a butcher shop.

"Kid. Mai. Can you guys hear me?" He calls in with his microphone. "Yes. What did you discover?" Kid answers. "Well, we have the right guy. It's bad. It looks like they were tortured. There are no survivors."

-With Mai and Kid-

"That's awful. Let's peel his skin off with a potato peeler," I whisper under my breath. Kid and I got back to watching out for our friends. We were also determined to not let any children go wondering off, just in case this monster didn't work alone. After a few minutes of silence, Kid reaches over and reassuringly pats my back. "Sometimes I agree."

The show finally ends. We patiently watch, since we haven't made a visual of the puppeteer. "There he is, to the left of the stage by that tree," I alert Kid to the situation. "I better get those three over there, I see him talking to a little girl," Kid says full of distain. We alert everyone to the situation.

Maka and Soul wait at the trailer, in case he gets away. Liz, Patty, and Terrance will get there first. Black*Star and Tsubaki start running to the tree. I grab Kid's hand and run to the stairwell. "Wait, get on my back," he says suddenly. I quickly climb on. I figured he was going to call out that skateboard. I trusted him, so I didn't question it. I'm glad I wear shorts under my skirt.

-With Liz, Patty, and Terrance-

Terrance was the first to get there. He quickly ran up and grabbed the brunette little girl, before she got too close to the man. The girl was shocked and screamed in surprise. Sensing that he was discovered, the balding man looked up and said, "Oh dear, I usually eat the smaller portions. I guess I can package the three of you up as leftovers." He then morphed into a demonic looking clown. His arms had grown and contorted, and he crawled like a spider. The monster moved quickly towards Terrance, but Liz provided suppressive fire by using her sister as a gun.

Kid and I reached the scene next. I hopped off his back and ran to Terrance as he called for Liz and Patty. I took the girl from Terrance's arms and he transformed into a staff. "It'll be ok, big sis will protect you," I said to calm her down. Kid artfully shot at the kishin. I couldn't do much besides defend us from projectiles, since I had the extra burden of the child. The Kishin roared and looked like he was charging up some attack.

"Yaahhhoooo!"

An excited cry breaks the air as Black*Star finally makes his entrance. "I don't introduce myself to creeps who hurt kids!" He yells as he leaps in to attack. Kid sends a burst of his cannon and with their two powers combined, the demon is sliced through the middle.

I radio for Maka and Soul to tell them that it's over. Kid is talking to his father and making a report. Tsubaki is bowing and apologizing for Black*Star, while he wonders off to get food. I'm beginning to wonder about how to find this little girl's parents.

"Val! Oh, honey, there she is!" I hear a middle aged woman scream and drag her husband over to us. "Mommy! Daddy! There was a scary clown, but it went boom," she tells them happily while running to them. I identify myself with my badge and explained the situation. They looked so relieved and thanked us as they walked away.

"You handled that nicely," I hear Kid complement me from behind, "Thank you for saving me from that task." "Oh, sure thing," I say as I turn around. Kid looks at me with his eyes a bit wide and reaches his hand out. He moves a bit of my hair from one side to the other, and then I feel his fingers on my cheek as he tucks my hair behind my ear. "Much better, back to being beautifully symmetrical," he smirks and then marches off to call for a clean-up team.

As soon as I realized what happened, my face turned red. I hear a giggle and look up at Maka. It looks like she was just in time to see what happened. She looks like she's suppressing her laughter. I look at her indignantly and shake it off. There's paper work to be done.

Later that night, my three roommates and I roll into our apartment. It had been a busy day, and we all sat around the kitchen table to work on some homework. "There's more homework here than I thought there would be, it is more of a trade school after all," Terrance groaned. "Well, you could call Liz and ask her for help. I did see you get her number after the mission," Maka teased with a coy smile. "Dude, seriously? That's pretty cool," Soul said and went to give him a high-five, but Terrance had hidden his red face in his arms. "Here Soul, can't leave you hanging," I say as I give him the high-five instead.

Terrance finally snapped out of it and we all finished our assignments. Soul finally breaks the silence and says, "Dude, seriously, if you get past a certain base, you have to share the details-" "MAKA CHOP!"

"Well, goodnight guys," I say as I pack up my things to make my exit. "Going to bed first? You ok?" Terrance asks concerned. "Oh, she's fine. Maybe just a touch of death, but nothing that can't be cured," Maka teases. The guys obviously didn't get the joke, but I was not going to be questioned about it. I walked to my room and plopped on my bed.

Was he doing that because of his OCD? Or did he say that because he thought I was beautiful? Are things going to be weird at school on Monday? I glance out my window, then get up and walk over to it. I see the academy in the distance. Suddenly, movement catches my eye. I look down and see something odd. A black fox again? I looked up at me and winked? That's really weird. I'm pretty sure those don't exist. I'll ask Maka about it when she isn't being insufferable.

-At Kid's house-

Kid was worried that he had revealed too much. "Arg! She's clever, pretty, and symmetrical. I'm pretty sure I have a crush on her, but what in the world do I do?" By the end of his fight against himself he determined that he would ask his father to put him on a mission with Mai. Maybe if the two of them got to know each other and went to another country for a mission he could have more clarity. Hmmm, who could he get advice from on how to act during the trip?

* * *

Notes:

I am getting a Beta reader (hopefully) to go over my previous chapters and make sure that the grammar is correct and to help improve this story.

Who should Kid ask for advice from?

The next mission will explain those foxes that Mai has been seeing.

Crona is not going on mission right now, but will later. He is doing some really tough training to get Ragnarok to be more cooperative.


	7. Chapter 7

"A sound soul dwells within sound skin and sound cuticles." -Elizabeth "Liz" Thompson

* * *

I turned my head to look at my alarm clock. It's time to get ready for school. I'm still so groggy. "aaaaaawwwww," I groan into my pillow. It feels like I didn't get any sleep at all last night. I guess I'm going to have to wear more makeup today. At least that way I'll look alive. Hmm, I wonder what kind of look Kid would like.

My face turned a slight pink at the thought.

Well, I better get up now. I gather up my strength and make my way to the bathroom. My body feels heavy, but I'm excited at the same time. When you have someone that you like, it seems that every day is a little more interesting. I'm just wondering if I'm going to learn something new about him or see him.

I didn't think that things would be this good. I actually have friends here. I suppose I have my cousin to thank for the start, but now I get regular texts and calls from the gang. It's nice. Agh, this is too deep a thought pattern for this early.

After showering, I part my hair down the middle, like usual. I wear my usual semi-formal clothes, but I add some cute earrings that I got while shopping. They look like clock hands with black crystals. They mirror each other and give the look of symmetry. I figured it couldn't hurt. I've heard about how much Kid likes that. I wonder if that's all he would like. This is stupid. It shouldn't matter so much; I'm having fun either way. I wonder into the kitchen and munch on a bagel.

That's right. I'm going to just take it easy today. I'm determined.

"Mai, snap out of it. We gotta go so bookworm can be early," Soul said over his shoulder as he and Maka headed out the door.

Kid POV

I have one hour before classes start. Perfect. I knock on my father's office door as I straighten my coat.

"Come on in Kiddo~!" Lord Death adoringly calls to me. He always knows it's me. I push the doors open and walk in. "Father, I have a request. I'm sure that you are aware of the situation in South America." He nods his head. "I would like to take that extended surveying mission to make sure that no one is cloning animals."

"That's all well and good, but it's a two team mission. It's also one I didn't think you'd find interest in," he says thoughtfully. "I would like to request that Mai Albarn and Terrance Lovell join my team for this mission."

"How did I know you were going to suggest them," Lord Death mumbles under his breath. I just barely caught what he said and looked up at him questioningly. "I have no problem with the simple mission itself. I also have no problem with the two teams taking this mission. You match very well. I would just caution you to not get sidetracked-" "Father, with all due respect you can stop there. I would never get sidetracked on a mission and potentially let anything happen to my friends," I interrupt him in order to assure him. However, this is slightly new to me.

I don't usually interrupt someone, let alone my father. He looks at me sternly, and I begin to wonder if he'll scold me. Then his mood shifts completely. He starts laughing and says, "I guess I'll but your two teams as preferences to take missions together. With that kind of attitude I don't think you'd ever fail." I turn a bit pink in the face; this has gotten strangely awkward for some reason. "Father, you haven't been keeping an eye on me during any of the times I've seen Mai, right?"

"What's that about Mai? Isn't she just the bestest little niece anyone could ask for?" Spirit skips in with some papers. A deer in some headlights, yes that would describe my look perfectly right now. I suddenly remember how protective Spirit is of his daughter. Oh damnit, I bet he's close to that protective of his niece. "Thank you for your time Father. Good morning Spirit," I bow to both of them and walk calmly out.

"Hmm? I guess I heard wrong," Spirit says blinking, "Here are the files you asked to see."

Mai's POV

Before the day starts, I head to the art room to ask about joining the club they have. I didn't expect to see Crona there. "Hello, what are you working on?" I ask politely, hoping that I don't scare him. "Oh, hello, ummm. I'm doing some painting," he says nervously. "That's beautiful," and it was, "I love the trees swirling at the tips and the flowers look like orbs of light that are light dimly with different colors. It's fantastic!" "I'm not really sure how to take this kind of praise, but thank you," he said shyly. I'm glad that we have something in common. I show him some of my sketch books and we chat for the remaining time before class.

Later that day

"Aggghhh, this class sucks!" Black*Star moans. Our survival class is trying to teach us how to cook using wild resources that we gather. Black*Star is on my team. "Well, after you challenged everyone to make the biggest servings of food, you better go get some more stuff," I say bluntly looking at the meager bunch of wild onions and mushrooms he's gathered. I already threw out all of the poison and psychedelic mushrooms he accidently gathered. I wish Tsubaki or Terrance had this class too.

"I know, I'll defeat the biggest wild animal and get some big meat for you to cook! Yahooo!" he rushes off. "Wait, why does it have to be just me cooking!? I caught a fish and picked berries… and he can't even hear me now, sigh."

I started a fire and cooked the fish and made a sort of berry jam. Black*Star finally made his way back to our base, with a huge furry thing on his back. "You killed a bear." "Yeah, so you can cook that right?" He looks at me with complete seriousness. I just start laughing to the point of tears. We managed to pull off the biggest meal out of everyone, not the best, but it was certainly the biggest.

After that class, I walk to the girl's locker room. I'm so glad they give us enough time to shower between classes. Some of them can be messy as hell. I head out after drying off and see a familiar reaper down the hall. He turns his head away from the bulletin board that he was reading and looks right at me. He starts calmly walking towards me with his hands in his pockets, and I maintain my calm demeanor. After all, his is my friend.

"Hello. How are your classes going?" He politely asks. "They are going well. I do like classes and assignments, but I prefer traveling and going on missions. This is more of a trade school after all," I smile and thoughtfully reply. His face brightens up a bit and he says, "That works out well. It just so happens that your team and my team will be leaving next week for that mission in South America, if you are interested of course." "I'd love to," I say while tucking some hair behind my ear. I suddenly stopped when I saw that his expression looked a bit unsettled. His right eye was twitching as he gasped, "Your ear…" "What? Oh shit, I lost my other earring," I curse, embarrassed that I seemed to have triggered his OCD. He shakes his head and walks up to me. Then, he gently removes my remaining earring. "I'm sure it'll turn up. Until then, I'll hold on to this one. If that's alright?"

"Well, alright." I'm slightly confused about him doing that, it doesn't seem to be a normal thing to do. However, I don't want to trigger a break down and if that means losing my last earring then so be it. "Can I meet you at the library after school?" He asks me, snapping me out of my confusion. "I doubt it's for study help," I joke, "But I'll see you there." He smirks and nods. Then we part ways.

The rest of the day goes by a little too slowly. That didn't stop me from noticing something odd in the hallway earlier. I was talking to Terrance while on my way to the library, and we passed Liz and Patty on the way. We all said 'hi', of course, but it seemed like Liz and Terrance look away embarrassed as soon as they made eye contact. I guess he really does have a thing for her.

I open the door to the library and see Maka and Soul laughing together in the corner. I swear, it must be the season for this sort of thing. "Oh, Mai, I had something I wanted to ask you," Soul waves as he walks away from Maka and ushers me out into the hall.

"Hey, I know it's uncool to ask you, but Maka's my partner and I don't want things to be weird. I knew you'd understand, so could you please tell me if she has a crush on someone that's not me?" "She doesn't have a crush on someone that's not you as far as I know," I say slightly surprised. He sighed and smiled. It was obvious that he was relieved. I respect him for not directly asking if Maka liked him. Of course I wouldn't have betrayed her confidence by telling him, but this way it wouldn't create an awkward situation. He gives me a pat on the arm and says, "Thanks buddy, I owe you one."

I walk in and sit down by Maka. "I didn't expect to see you here twice today," she laughed, alluding to our earlier study hall class. "Well, I'm waiting for someone, and this is where he wanted to meet." She looks up at me and asks, "Mai, do you have someone you like?" I look away and say, "Yeah, I do. I think that Kid is smart and capable. Let's face it, smart is hot as hell, especially when he looks good too."

Maka giggled a bit and said, "I hope things work out with that. He's a bit odd in my opinion, but I guess odds attract." "Oh, hahaha," I laugh sarcastically. "Well, he is odd. He's been in the woods for most of today on that skateboard. It doesn't seem a very logical place to do that. Well, I'll see you at home, have fun," she waves as she walks off.

Not sleeping last night has caught up with me a bit. I dose off with my head on the table before I can stop myself. Thankfully, just fifteen minutes pass before I feel a light shake of my arm. I open my eyes to meet amber ones looking gently at me. "Oh, I'm sorry!" I say as I sit up quickly. "It's quite alright. Anyway, here are the mission details," he says gently, "Oh, and I happened to find this." I reach out my hand at he places both of my earrings in my open palm.

Wait, could he have been in the woods looking for this?

* * *

Notes:

PM me if you have any requests. I like to hear ideas for missions.

All suggestions welcomed.

Thanks for all the views and reviews :), I'll start using this space here to address reviews instead of sending private messages from now on.


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